


bright star

by viasaints



Category: Bridgerton (TV), Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Lady Whistledown Reveal, F/M, Getting Together, Love Confessions, Misunderstandings, Mostly Fluff, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Rated E for later chapters, Secret Admirer, slight angst with a happy ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:14:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29851710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viasaints/pseuds/viasaints
Summary: In which Penelope receives anonymous gifts, Colin starts acting weird, and some misunderstandings ensue.
Relationships: Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington
Comments: 23
Kudos: 158





	bright star

“Um, Pen?”

“Yeah?”

“You’ve got a delivery.”

Penelope looked up from her laptop in confusion, where she had been typing in deep concentration for at least two hours. She didn’t remember ordering anything, at least not recently, but didn’t think much of it. The only thing on her mind right now was getting the _Whistledown_ website updated. On top of that, she was also running behind on a book review for her actual job, and her editor would kill her if she was late on another deadline. Until she was done, she refused to leave her room. 

“Okay. Just put it on the table and I’ll get to it later.”

“Actually,” Eloise said. “I think you should come out here right now.”

Penelope sighed, immediately thinking the worst of it. Her mother had an odd habit of sporadically dropping off passive-aggressive "gifts": dating service applications, old exercise DVDs, and a variety of self-help books with depressing titles like _Forever Alone_ and _How to Embrace Mediocrity_.

Despite her dread, curiosity got the better of her and she made her way into the kitchen.

“I hope you have the tequila ready,” Penelope called out. “I swear if it's another aerobics video-”

She stopped dead in her tracks. Waiting for her at the dining room table was definitely _not_ another addition to her self-hatred collection.

Flowers. Someone had actually sent her flowers - a beautiful arrangement of light pink peonies and blush-colored roses tied together with an ivory satin bow, just in time for the beginning of Spring.

“I have to ask,” Eloise said, a teasing lilt to her voice. “Are you seeing anyone?”

Penelope scoffed. “We live together.”

“And?”

“Don’t you think you would notice if I was dating someone?”

Eloise shrugged. “I don’t know _everything_ about you. Apparently, you have a lot of secrets I don’t know about.”

Penelope froze, suddenly finding it very difficult to keep standing. She couldn’t know. There was no way she could know about _Whistledown_ , right?

“You got Cressdia fired and I had to find out from _Colin_ of all people!”

Penelope struggled to repress a sigh of relief. She hated keeping the blog a secret from her best friend, she really did, but she knew it was what was best for everyone. Especially since the Bridgerton family was such a staple of the site's content.

"Don't pin that on me," Penelope said once she managed to get her panicked breathing was under control. “Cressida got herself fired.”

“She deserved it, trying to pass off your story pitches as her own! I’m sure that _Mayfair_ is much better off without her there.”

Eloise was right, of course. Even though Cressida wasn't at _The Mayfair Press_ for very long, the immense relief felt at her departure had been a very welcome effect on the work environment there. Even Colin, who was covering an archeological excavation in Greece at the time for his travel column, called Penelope within ten minutes of the announcement to celebrate. 

Thinking about Colin instantly made Penelope smile. Unfortunately, that was just a side effect of being hopelessly in love with someone for the better part of a decade. The simple thought of him could turn her into a lovestruck idiot in less than a second.

“Pen?”

Back to reality.

“Right, sorry. Is there a card?”

Eloise nodded, handing her the envelope. Penelope’s name was written on the front in an elegant cursive, and the note was closed with a deep purple wax seal with an imprint of the florist's logo. She opened it with delicate caution and read the message aloud.

“ _To my Bright Star, who always lights the way_.”

Even with all of the confusion surrounding this entire situation, Penelope couldn't help but smile. "The Keats reference is a nice touch."

“But no signature?” Eloise asked.

Penelope shook her head, still a little transfixed at the words in front of her. “No. Nothing.”

“Looks like you’ve got a secret admirer.”

Regardless of her initial joy, she bristled at the comment. “No. That's not it.”

“What other explanation do you have then?”

“Um.” Penelope paused and thought it over carefully. “It could’ve been meant for someone else.”

“Your name is literally on the card.”

“My birthday?”

“Is not for another two months," Eloise pointed out. 

“My mother finally realized how amazing I am and sent these to compensate for years of torment?”

“Okay, now that's just unrealistic.”

The flowers continued to glare up at Penelope mockingly.

 _Secret admirer_. Just the idea of it was ridiculous. To her knowledge, no one’s had an actual crush on her since grade school. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had even been on a date. This had to be a cruel childish joke of some kind. Maybe Cressida’s recent unemployment had driven her boredom to new heights.

The worst part was that deep down she knew it didn’t actually matter whether this was a mean prank or a genuine gesture. Unless she somehow managed to stumble into an alternate universe where Colin Bridgerton had drastically lowered his standards and decided that she was the one for him, then it could never matter all that much. 

Unfortunately, Penelope had resigned herself to this pathetic truth a long time ago: she would always be in love with Colin, and he would never be in love with her.

Years ago, when she was a lot younger and much more idealistic, she thought that maybe this childhood crush would fade with time. Maybe fate would be kind, and she would be granted the ability to fall in love with someone else. She longed for the idea of someone attainable, someone who would sweep her away from everything bad in her life, someone who would love her back fully and unconditionally.

Instead, she received a gorgeous bouquet of flowers from a seemingly perfect stranger, and all she could think about was a man who would never want her.

With that in mind, she looked over the card again and allowed the tiniest glimmer of hope to develop. Maybe the universe had finally answered her pleas. Maybe this was her chance to get over Colin Bridgerton and move on with her life.

Maybe she wasn’t such a lost cause after all. At the very least, she had to try.

Eloise glanced at her expectantly. “We’re going to track them down, right?”

Again, curiosity got the better of her. 

“Yeah,” Penelope agreed, only a slight tinge of hesitation in her voice. “I guess we are.”

**Author's Note:**

> I promise the other parts will be a lot longer, I'm just nervous because this is the first time I've posted my writing in a longgg time. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!!


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